“I love you,” I say with conviction. “I love you so damn much it scares the hell out of me.”
That’s the moment she breaks. She lunges forward and grabs me by the collar. I wrap her in my arms and welcome the feeling of being whole once again. She buries her face in my chest, and her fingers clutch my shirt like I’ll disappear again if she lets go.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper into her hair. “I’m so sorry. Please don’t leave me… Please give me another chance to make it up to you.”
She sobs into my shirt for a moment and then lifts her head.
“We can work it out,” she says, cupping my face with shaking hands. “But you have to communicate, Frost. You can’t run from me. You can’t shut me out. If we’re doing this, we do ittogether.”
I nod, press my forehead to hers, and let my tears finally fall so she sees the sincerity behind my words. “I’ll never run again. I swear it.”
Amy sniffles loudly behind her. “Okay. Fine. You two can be disgustingly cute. If you hurt her again, I’m gonna do more than break your kneecaps, and then your boys over there are gonna help me bury the body.”
“Can do,” Glitch promises.
Hope turns and snaps, “Amy!” Her expression is murderous.
Amy just shrugs. “What? I’m expressing boundaries.”
I laugh, actually laugh for the first time in days, my arms still locked around Hope.
She looks back up at me, tears wet on her cheeks, and whispers, “Don’teverleave me again like that.”
“Never,” I say, meaning every damn syllable. “Never again.”
I found the other half of my soul. I won’t let go.
Hope is my anchor, I see that now. When I walked away from her, the meaning of my life disappeared, and I became a shell of a person. Now that she’s in my arms again, I can breathe easily. No one expects to find their soul mate and fall in love in a matter of days, but I did.
Applause erupts all around us, and Hope’s cheeks burn red.
“Alright, assholes, knock it off,” I demand.
Chaos claps me on the back. “You fucked up, bro.”
I jerk my chin. “I know.”
“Damn, if I’d known you did all that to this beautiful creature, I would’ve beat the shit out of you myself,” Glitch admits.
Amy cocks her head at Glitch. “What’s your name?”
“Glitch.”
“Well, Glitch, your psycho is showing.”
Glitch throws his arm around her shoulder. “Stick with me, sweetheart, I think we’ll make a good team.”
I groan. “Oh fuck, no.”
Hope giggles beside me, and it’s like music to my ears. “You won’t be able to stop her now. She found someone as crazy as she is.”
The world could fall apart at my feet this very moment, and I wouldn’t give a shit. I have Hope back in my arms where she belongs, all is right.
CHAPTER 18
HOPE
“I’m Hawk, Frost’s dad,” a man with a gravelly voice says, stepping beside Frost. He holds out his hand. “I take it you’re Hope.”
